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Rites of Passage and Oral Storytelling in Romanian Epic and the New Testament

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Rites of Passage and Oral Storytelling in Romanian Epic and the New Testament Oral Tradition, 17/2 (2002): 236-258 Rites of Passage and Oral Storytelling in Romanian Epic and the New Testament Margaret H. Beissinger The exploration of traditional narratives that circulated in the pre- modern age through the comparative study of contemporary genres has a rich precedent in the groundbreaking work of Milman Parry and Albert Lord. Starting in the 1930s, Parry and Lord sought to gain insight into the compositional style of the Homeric epics by observing and analyzing Yugoslav oral epic poets and their poetry. Their findings and conclusions were seminal. In 1960, Lord posited that traditional singers compose long sung poetry in isometric verses in performance through their reliance on groups of words that are regularly used-—as parts of lines, entire lines, and groups of lines—to represent ideas in the poetry.1 This became known as the theory of oral-formulaic composition and has had profound implications in the study of epic and other traditional genres from ancient to modern times.2 Oral epic is no longer performed in today’s former Yugoslavia. But there are still traces of traditional narrative poetry elsewhere in the Balkans, namely in southern Romania, where I have done much fieldwork among epic singers and at epic performances. Though greatly inspired by the work of Parry and Lord, my goals in this article, of course, are far humbler. I examine narrative patterns in a Romanian epic song cycle in order to offer possible models for the further study of oral storytelling in the New Testament. My exploration centers on epics of initiation and the nature of the initiatory hero. I consider how the young hero is represented in epics from the so-called Novac cycle; I also discuss how the stories are constructed and how oral composition is reflected in them. The initiatory hero of the Novac cycle, Gruia, is a complex figure 1 See Lord 1960. 2 See Foley 1985 (updated version at http://www.oraltradition.org), 1988, and 2002. ROMANIAN EPIC AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 237 who embodies a paradoxical combination of characteristics: he is both semi- divine and mortal; he longs to come of age and get married but cannot meet the challenges set in order to win a bride; he has great courage and potential yet flees from danger; and he repeatedly needs to be rescued or aided in situations he cannot handle himself though he has every intention of doing so. Gruia is at once conventionally heroic and yet anti-heroic—juvenile, naive, impulsive, and buffoonish in his behavior. I argue that he is enigmatic because he stands at the threshold and mediates between youth and manhood and thus inherently embodies ambiguity. This ambiguity characterizes the universal transition from childhood to adulthood. Furthermore, the Romanian initiation epics and their heroes articulate a variety of concerns relating to the traditional family and the succession of generations. I explore how they mirror not only the tensions that mark the passage from childhood to adulthood, but also intergenerational dynamics and the cycle of continuity within the sequence of the generations. My interest in treating narrative patterns that center on a specific protagonist in the Romanian epic stems from the fact that the New Testament is also comprised of stories that tell of the deeds and circumstances surrounding the life of a spiritual hero, Jesus, including life- cycle events. Moreover, like the oral epics in Romania and elsewhere in the Balkans, the narratives of the New Testament were circulated and perpetuated in ancient times, to some extent, through oral tradition.3 The New Testament and Romanian epic are vastly different on many levels, to be sure. For one, the stories of the Gospels pertain to the sacred realm, while Romanian epic is a thoroughly secular genre. Moreover, the phenomenon of multiple stories circulating around a single figure, though found in both the Gospels and Romanian epic, is realized on a considerably different scale in each tradition. After all, the power of the Gospels lies in the uniqueness of Jesus as a protagonist, while Romanian epic heroes generally represent one strand of larger, collective heroic personae found throughout the Balkans. Nonetheless, both narrative traditions flourished in worlds characterized by a primarily oral culture,4 and in both there are “heroes” who represent or advocate ideals of profound cultural significance. My observations implicitly serve, then, to juxtapose Jesus, the central figure in the narratives of the Gospels, many of which are also expressed in multiform, with the initiatory hero of Romanian epic, found in numerous tales in the tradition. 3 See Kelber 1983. 4 See Ong 1982. 238 MARGARET H. BEISSINGER In the pages ahead, I offer first a few introductory remarks about Romanian oral epic as a genre. I then examine select epic songs from the Novac cycle with a focus on the initiatory hero and his narratives. Altogether I discuss nine epic song texts: five songs, plus four additional variants of three of them. They were all collected from different epic singers in southern Romania at various times during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.5 Throughout, I also consider the role of the Romanian initiation epics within the larger Balkan epic framework. Ultimately, I hope that my approach to Romanian epic, which combines a close reading of the poetry and insights gained from extensive fieldwork with a comparative perspective—especially within the Balkan context—will prove useful to others outside my immediate field. Romanian Oral Epic Romanian epic songs are called cântece ba`trâne∑ti (“old songs”). The genre is typically performed for ethnic Romanians by traditional professional male singers and instrumentalists—la`utari (sg. la`utar)—who are Romani (Gypsy).6 Traditional music and song, including epic, are performed at weddings, baptisms, and other family celebrations in Romania. Epic singers are accompanied by small ensembles of musicians who play traditional instruments such as the violin, hammer dulcimer, and accordion. The epic performance begins with an instrumental introduction played by the whole ensemble; it is followed by vocal sections performed by one singer and subsequent instrumental interludes. An instrumental finale concludes the performance. Romanian epic songs are usually only several hundred lines long. The generally trochaic verse—corresponding to the melodic line—normally has seven or eight syllables. The poetry reflects a considerable degree of formulaic composition, as singers rely on repeated 5 I have selected texts from Amzulescu 1956, 1964, 1974, and 1981. All of the translations, which are simply literal, are mine (I make no claims to “poetic” interpretations). 6 Music-making among Romani musicians is learned and transmitted within the family, along the male kin line. For a fuller treatment of Romanian Romani (Gypsy) epic singers and Romanian epic, see Beissinger 1991:chs. 1-3; on identity (occupational and ethnic) among Romani musicians, see Beissinger 2001. ROMANIAN EPIC AND THE NEW TESTAMENT 239 syntactic and lexical patterns that are employed according to the narrative context.7 While epic in Romania has flourished for centuries, it is performed at the present time only in a few villages in south-central regions of the country. Romanian oral epic, like the South Slavic genre, mirrors distinctly Balkan historical and cultural circumstances. It is attested from at least the fourteenth century and reflects the Ottoman presence in the Balkans. Many of the epic songs are heroic narratives. Indeed, the core of Romanian heroic narrative deals with conflicts between the native Orthodox Christians and the Turks. The Romanians share many tales and heroes with the South Slavic epic tradition. These stories portray a distinctly patriarchal world where heroic deeds are related in ordeals of capture and rescue as well as in conflict and resolution. Romanian oral epic includes a number of cycles surrounding the exploits of specific heroes. The Novac cycle8 tells of the deeds of Novac and Gruia, fabled heroes found in South Slavic epic as well.9 Novac, often called “ba`trînul” or “Baba” Novac (“old” or “Old Man” Novac), is a mature and seasoned hero and warrior who is invariably triumphant in his exploits. His son (or nephew) Gruia, by contrast, is presented as youthful—either as a boy or young man—and in this role undergoes multiple initiations in various epic songs. Gruia is frequently called “Gruia lui Novac” (“Gruia, Son of Novac”) or “Grui†a`” (“Little Gruia”). He occasionally merges with “Iovi†a`,” also presented as Novac’s son or nephew. Heroes in traditional narrative are often depicted as undergoing various stages of the life cycle. This is a widespread phenomenon10 and is 7 For a discussion of formulaic composition in Romanian epic, see Beissinger 1991:chs. 4-5; on text and music, see ch. 6. 8 The narratives of the Novac cycle reflect the Ottoman world, containing Turkish officials, Islamic institutions, “÷arigrad” (Istanbul), and a conspicuous Turkish lexicon, as well as narratives that include mythological and fantastic elements (such as fairies and dragons). The epics in this cycle were at one time widespread in southern and southwestern Romania, though they no longer circulate in oral tradition. 9 In Serbo-Croatian epic, they are called “Starina Novak” (“Old Man Novak”) and “Novakovi¶ Grujo” (“Grujo, Son of Novak”); see, e.g., ER 1720 and Karad¢i¶ 1846. In the Bulgarian epic tradition, the two heroes are Stari Novak and Novakov Grujo (also “Old Man Novak” and “Gruyo, Son of Novak”); see BJE 1971. 10 E.g., Oedipus, Heracles, and many more; see Raglan 1965. 240 MARGARET H. BEISSINGER also found in the life of Jesus,11 whose birth and death (and resurrection), in particular, are key to the Christian narrative. The Nativity of Jesus, including his miraculous conception and birth as a semi-divine Savior, is rendered in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.
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